High gas prices and a potent turbocharged engine drive V6 sales for Ford's best seller

What good is a big ‘old domestic full-size pickup truck without
a V8 engine under the hood? Half-ton pickups and V8 engines go together like
peanut butter and jelly or Smith & Wesson. But with gas
prices putting the squeeze on many consumers, those who can actually afford
to purchase brand new vehicles are trying to be more economical.

We already reported in late April that Ford is seeing
incredible demand for its new EcoBoost V6 engine in the Ford F-150. Reports
pegged the EcoBoost V6 engine option as taking
36 percent of all F-150 sales.

However, that figure jumped to 41 percent for the month of
May. In addition, the 3.7-liter V6 engine option captured 14 percent, bringing
the total haul for V6 engines to over half of all F-150 sales for the month.

According
to PickupTrucks.com, the
increasing interest in Ford's V6 engine options should come as no surprise
given the current state of gas pries in the United States. However, the
phenomena is still amazing when you consider that the take rate for V6 engines
in competing Toyota Tundra and GMC Sierra/Chevrolet Silverado full size pickups
is in the single-digit range.

Ford’s
3.7-liter V6 engine generates 300hp @ 6,500 rpm and 275 lb-ft of torque at
4,500 rpm. It is EPA rated at 17 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway. The
popular EcoBoost V6 makes 365hp @ 5,000 rpm and 420 lb-ft of torque at a low
2,500 rpm. It has EPA ratings of 16/22.

Both engines run on regular unleaded gasoline, which is a plus
with high gasoline prices.

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Need it be mentioned that Americans prefer larger vehicles? Pretty simple really, put a bigger engine in a bigger vehicle, though AFAIK, American emissions standards are higher making diesels less powerful too in addition to the disparity between diesel pumps and gas pumps at the filling stations.

As I mentioned in another post, you are pushing your engine harder to drive like that versus a larger more powerful engine. That wear takes its tool over time, not everyone wants to replace their vehicle every 4 years nor have more repairs and creaky rattly looser handling.

FACT: diesel engines have more longevity than comparable petrol engines. Lower RPM, operating temperature, and larger tolerances are some factors. Best marine engines are diesel too. The average marine gasoline engine runs for 1,500 hours before needing a major overhaul. The average marine diesel engine will run for more than 3x that at an average 5,000 hours under the same conditions. Automotive engines' life expectancy is roughly twice as long.

FACT: The average gasoline engine in a modern car lasts for the life of the vehicle. The car is totaled or suffers some other kind of costly repair that causes it to be junked or parted out before then.

There is an exception, which is if someone buys an undersized engine and then has to continually push it at greater operating stress to get the same job done.

On the other hand, I am not against diesel engines, but I won't own a car with one because in the US I don't want to be restricted to hunting for and using only the one pump at each local gas station. If in the future stations put in triple or more diesel pumps, I'd have no problem with owning a diesel.

It is true that an engine nevermind the type lasts as long as the average vehicle. By your own admission, whether you drive an "underpowered" vehicle or not, the engine longevity is not an issue, nobody on average would need to overhaul their engine every 4 years.

The other point about scarcity of diesel fueling stations is outdated. I recommend going to Shell (just one major diesel retail chain in the U.S.) and "locate" nearby diesel stations within a 5 mile radius from your home or office. I bet you will be surprised to see many more stations than you ever imagined. And it is just from Shell. There are others too. No need to hunt anything unless you drive seriously outside metro areas where I have little experience, but imagine that agri, heating, other uses would actually make diesel fuel more available, not less.

And do not mind a single diesel pump... hardly ever it has a queue in the U.S.

^ Untrue, these days modernized gas stations have the diesel integrated into one of the pumps that does gas too so you will wait on people getting gas not diesel.

Engine longevity is an issue if it uses an undersized engine.

The point is easy to understand, in America gas vehicles are more convenient unless driving a large truck where you need to go to a truck stop to refuel.

As unbelievable as it seems, LOTS of people care more about other factors than whether a car has a diesel engine and aren't going to be limited in what they can buy just to get one... in fact, almost every product I buy, has efficiency VERY VERY low on the list of important factors.